


Learn to Swim

by surskitty



Series: Step Aside and See the World [3]
Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Fanfiction, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 05:59:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3680589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surskitty/pseuds/surskitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhyme's always been the smart one, but that don't mean she can hide shit from Beat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learn to Swim

Rhyme's always been the smart one, but that don't mean she can hide shit from Beat. She's quiet at breakfast, dodging when their ma tries asking her what she's doing in school (and he can hear the unspoken _because you need to make up for your failure brother_ ; he's not gonna let it get to him, but can't she just have gone off to work already? They get it, yo; fuck off), and he can tell something's wrong. Maybe he can't fix it, but he can tell it's there.

So when he ducks out of class (he's gonna go back later, he promises himself: he needs to catch up, only algebra leaves this n-a-s-t-y taste in his mouth and it's no longer just from not getting it), he skateboards over to the park by Rhyme's school, and while he _hopes_ he's wrong ….

Nope, there's his sister on the swing set. On the swing set and _not_ in class. Dammit.

"Hey," he says, voice level: don't take it out on her; she doesn't deserve it.

She jumps a little, caught. He flips up his board and smiles, sympathetic. She still does the squirrel in headlights face for a sec, but she softens once she's sure he's not mad. "Hi, Beat."

"Yo, anything you wanna talk about?" he says, hopping up onto the monkey bars.

"Not really," she says, staring off into the distance. "I just … didn't see the point."

Aw, shit. "Yeah," he says slowly, "yeah, I get that, but you gotta stick with it when you can, yeah?"

"Like you're doing," she says bitterly, and it's such an un-Rhyme-like thing to say that he blinks.

"Today I couldn't so much," he admits, "and I'm gonna talk to Neku and see what he can help me with, aight? And maybe I'm not the best role model, but we still gotta try. Showing up is like half of it right there."

Rhyme sighs. "We're just some pair of winners, aren't we."

"Hey," he says, and he may not be the best older sibling, but Neku got him to get his head out of his ass and this shit is important, "don't ever think that. Rhyme, I know Ma and Pa are full of shit, and school ain't near as important as they say it is. But what _does_ matter's doing your best and trying to put yourself fully into what you do."

And maybe it's corny, but she's smiling at him, so it can't be all bad.

"And if you can't do it today," he adds, "then you do it tomorrow, but you still gotta do it. Screw the 'rents; they don't matter. Do it for yourself."

"That was pretty cool, Beat," she says, smiling, and it's all he's ever wanted.

"You think so?" he says, rubbing his neck. "Neku taught me that."

"He's a good friend."

"Yeah, he is." But Neku's not who matters right now. "Hey, let's go to Sunshine, and then we both go back to class, aight?"

She nods, and maybe they're not perfect, but they'll work this out. They've got each other.


End file.
